Gyeonggi Province will establish an "Integrated Support Headquarters" in Gapyeong County, which suffered significant damage from the heavy rains on July 19 and 20, to ensure a swift recovery. The province has also formally requested that the Ministry of the Interior and Safety immediately designate Gapyeong County as a special disaster zone.
On July 20, Gyeonggi Province Governor Dongyeon Kim visited Daebo Bridge in Sang-myeon, Gapyeong County to inspect the damage firsthand. He expressed his deep concern, stating, "Seeing the site in person is truly heartbreaking," and urged, "Please do your utmost until everything is fully restored."
He further emphasized, "Rescuing people who are missing or isolated, especially those in buried or inaccessible areas, must be our top priority. I hope that Gyeonggi Province and Gapyeong County can work together and do everything possible."
He also promised, "Please support the affected households with follow-up measures and compensation, and help the displaced residents return to their daily lives as quickly as possible. We will also take steps to prevent further damage, such as conducting safety inspections of bridges, and provide insurance support to farms."
Accordingly, Gyeonggi Province will operate its Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters and set up a joint Gyeonggi-Gapyeong Integrated Support Headquarters at the Administrative Welfare Center in Jojeong-myeon, Gapyeong County. The main focus will be to minimize casualties, and the province will support search and rescue operations, relief for displaced residents, and emergency restoration efforts.
The Integrated Support Headquarters will be led by Deputy Governor for Administrative Affairs Kim Sungjung, with the Director of the Safety Management Office as deputy head, and the Director of the Natural Disaster Division as general coordinator. Four teams?General Coordination, Rescue, Relief for Displaced Residents, and Emergency Restoration?will be formed, with participation from 11 departments and bureaus.
Gyeonggi Province Governor Dongyeon Kim visited the affected areas in Gapyeong County on the 20th and discussed the recent heavy rain situation with village residents. Photo by Gyeonggi Province
After his visit to Gapyeong, Governor Kim called Minister of the Interior and Safety Yoon Hojung and said, "After seeing the site, it is clear that a prompt designation as a special disaster zone is necessary. Since you already gave related instructions at this morning's Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting, I request that you do not wait for the final damage assessment, but instead declare a special disaster zone based on clear estimates, given that there have already been casualties."
In response, Minister Yoon replied that an investigative team would be dispatched to Gapyeong County today.
Before visiting Gapyeong, Governor Kim visited the Gyeonggi Province Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters in the morning to receive a report on the damage from the heavy rain. He instructed staff to do their utmost to rescue missing, buried, and isolated people, and to actively search to ensure that no affected areas are overlooked.
He also sent "Governor's Instructions Regarding Heavy Rain Damage" to all cities and counties in the province, emphasizing: ▲ giving top priority to rescuing buried and isolated individuals ▲ mobilizing all available heavy equipment for rescue and recovery support ▲ confirming that no affected areas have been missed ▲ ensuring the safety of officials dispatched to the field.
Meanwhile, from 5:00 p.m. on July 19, rainfall in northern Gyeonggi Province, especially in Pocheon and Gapyeong, was two to four times higher than the expected 20-80mm, with much heavier rain than forecast.
From midnight on July 19 to 10:00 a.m. on July 20, cumulative precipitation reached 209mm in Pocheon, 197mm in Gapyeong, and 178mm in Uijeongbu. In particular, Pocheon experienced torrential rainfall of more than 104mm per hour.
Gyeonggi Province has now raised its Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters to emergency level 3 and is responding accordingly.
So far, the known casualties from this heavy rain are two deaths and nine missing persons in Gapyeong County. Gyeonggi Province is concerned about the possibility of further casualties, given the ongoing power and communication outages at the disaster sites.
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